Hey everyone! I finally updated! I'm actually satisfied with this chapter. So I hope it is enjoyable to read for you guys as well! It was certainly enjoyable to write :D

Chapter 21: The Night Before

After finding the rooms that were assigned to them, the Duelists were summoned to the dining room to eat while getting the details of how the tournament will go from here on out.

Jounouchi: "Oh man! I'm starving!"

Honda: "This chicken is so good!"

Akia: "Hey, don't hog all the food to yourselves!"

Pegasus was watching the scene, amused by how well his plan was going. He wasn't expecting the girl with the millennium scale to actually make it this far, there she was, right where he wanted her. She was able to make it even with the Star Chip Hunters making sure there wouldn't be an extra finalist. With Yugi's puzzle and her scale… It was time to announce who will be dueling who.

Pegasus: "Alright everyone, settle down."

Everyone sat back down at the seat that was assigned to them.

Pegasus: "Considering we have one more Duelist than predicted, one of you will have to Duel more times than others. If you look in front of you…"

As the duelists looked in front of them at the bowl of soup that was just recently served to them, an eye, made out of gold emerges from every plate.

Jounouchi: "Ah! Gross!"

Pegasus: "Inside of those, you will be assigned a number that will pit you against the one with the same number as you."

Akia picked the eyeball that was floating in her soup and opened it. A slip of paper was inside. As she opened it, she found the number 1 written on it.

Pegasus: "If everyone can now show your slip of paper to everyone."

They flipped the paper towards the others, getting a good look at who would be their opponent.

Keith had number 1 also written on his paper. Akia assumed this meant he was her first opponent. That was totally fine by her. She was looking forward to wipe the floor with his pride. Yugi and Mai had 2-A written on their paper. Jounouchi had 2-B written on his.

Pegasus: "Well, that settles it. The first match will be Mutou Akia against Keith Howard. The second match will be Mutou Yugi versus Kujaku Mai. The winner of that match will be put against Jounouchi Katsuya. The Duels will begin tomorrow, so you better prepare well. To claim your prizes, you will need one of these two cards that were sent to you."

Pegasus took out Glory of the King's Hand, a card depicting a golden treasure, and Glory of the King's Opposite Hand, a blank card.

'Oh no! I don't have any of those! Maybe Yugi… No, we both want the same card. We don't want the Glory of the King's Hand, since it's just the prize money.'

Akia then felt someone tapping her on the shoulder. She turned to her left and saw Mai handing her her Glory of the King's Opposite Hand.

"Mai-san…"

Mai: "Isn't that the card you need? You're not after the prize money after all."

Akia smiled at Mai and took the card.

"Thanks so much! You're a lifesaver!"

Mai smiled at Akia.

Mai: "Don't mention it. Just make sure you don't lose a single Life Point to that asshole, unless it's really necessary."

"Haha, you don't like him either, Mai-san."

Mai: "Who would?"

"Good question."

They both quietly giggled, trying not to attract too much attention from the subject of their conversation.

After the meal, everyone wished each other goodnight and went to their respective bedrooms.

Akia's POV

Finally alone! I really needed some peace and quiet after all that's happened. I lie down on my bed and stare at the ceiling. I run through all the things that we all went through. The Star Chip hunt, meeting Mai, the Evil Spirit in Ryou's millennium ring… Ryou's feelings… that hug, that warmth… Why did I push it away? It felt so nice, yet… Something felt wrong about just accepting it. I still haven't let go of that boy named Marik. It's so silly that I'm so hung up on something that happened so long ago. I don't even remember how he looked like back then. Even if I do see him again, I won't recognize him, and neither will he. Then… Why haven't I let go already?!

I lightly punch the mattress beneath me with both my fists out of frustration. I'm sure if I just let Ryou in, I would just forget about Marik. But… That's what I'm afraid of. I don't want to forget him. There's no logical explanation to this, but I just don't want to forget him. Ever.

I need to clear my head. I should look at my deck and prepare myself for tomorrow's match. Now that I think about it, I don't even know anything about Keith other that he's not the most likeable person. My deck right now can handle most cases. But most is still not enough. Problem is I made the best possible deck out of the cards that I have. No, there must be other combinations. I'll try to make an even better deck, even if it's by just one card.

Since my deck heavily focuses on removing cards from play, I need to add more things that accelerate that process… That's it!

Outside POV

Akia worked on her deck for a few hours, before calling it a day. She took the Glory of the King's Opposite Hand that Mai gave her and tucked it under her pillow. She also took her deck and put it on the nightstand that was right next to her bed. She took her millennium scale and stared at it for a bit. She never thought she would ever use it so much. Granted, she only used it when she found it was necessary, but she was starting to become desensitized to the harm that she caused her victims. She definitely won't need to use it in the next matches, since they were monitored by Pegasus himself along with his bodyguards. That relieved her, making her feel a bit less guilty about what she did previously. She just hoped that the effects were temporary. They were on the Spirit of the Ring, but maybe he's a special case.

As she was thinking that, the millennium scale lit up. Akia then felt a presence behind her. She quickly turned around and found someone that she never thought she would see again.

"…Shadi…?"

He looked exactly the same as when she saw him when she was a kid. That didn't make sense to her. How could still look the same after all these years?

Shadi: "The vessel of the Red Eyes Black Dragon, Akia. You were having some regrets about your use of the millennium scale."

"Ah! Yes, but… how did you get here?"

Shadi: "I am not of the physical world. For years now, I've been wandering the earth for one purpose."

"Wait, are you saying that you're dead?"

Shadi: "I've been dead for centuries, yes."

"How come… what's that purpose?"

Shadi: "All will be answered in due time. As for the millennium scale, it traps people's souls. The wielder then has complete control over these souls."

Akia looked at the millennium scale with a terrified look. She really did take their souls.

"I… So I basically… killed them…"

Shadi: "No, they are just in a state of unconsciousness. However, if they stay in that state for too long, they will eventually die."

"I have to… to do something to help!"

Akia was frantic. It was not her intention at all to put people's lives in danger. She just assumed that it couldn't be that bad. Maybe it was just her wishful thinking, something that could put her consciousness to rest.

Shadi: "Like I said, you have complete control over their souls, therefore you can release them if you wish, or you can keep them trapped."

Akia's face instantly brightened at that sudden ray of hope.

"So I can help them then! How do I release them?"

Shadi: "Just concentrate on your item and what you want it to do."

"Oh, of course…!"

Akia then closed her eyes and held her millennium scale close. She then felt something getting released, then another… The two souls that she took away were restored.

"Thank you so much, Shadi, I also wanted to ask…"

When Akia opened her eyes, no one was there.

"…about Marik."

She looked around, confused at this whole situation. Did Shadi appear just to help her out, or was there another purpose? Unbeknownst to her, Shadi was always keeping an eye on all the wielders of the millennium items. He would rarely intervene, considering that his mission was only to inform those individuals of their true fate at the right time.

I was actually going to do a really annoying move by cutting it of at where Akia says "...Shadi...?" Or like right before that sentence. Then, I felt like a lot of people would be pretty annoyed with that so I chose not to leave it at such a cliffhanger XD

Anyway if you enjoyed, please review! :D